What’s the story behind the old Bell Memorial Hospital at KU med near 39th and Rainbow?

For this installment of “What’s Your KCQ?,” the joint project of the Kansas City Public Library and The Star, the Missouri Valley Special Collections staff tackles this reader question:

Who was Bell Memorial Hospital on the KU Medical Center grounds named for?

Bell Memorial Hospital near West 39th Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard, now known as the Murphy Administration Building of the University of Kansas Medical Center, was named in honor of one of Rosedale’s original power couples.

Simeon B. Bell was born in New Jersey in 1820. His family relocated to Ohio, where he was raised, courted his wife Eleanor Taylor, and graduated from medical school in 1852. Hoping to expand his medical practice in the west, the Bells came to the Kansas Territory in 1857. Their timing couldn’t have been worse.

In the late 1850s, future Kansans and Missourians living on the state’s western border fought bitterly over the extension of slavery into the territory, and the Bells were unable to avoid the conflict. Settling in Johnson County near modern day Stillwell, the abolitionist Bells saw their home burned by pro-slavery border ruffians. During the Civil War, Bell served as a field doctor for Union forces in the area.

After the war, the Bells moved north to the town of Rosedale, where Dr. Bell became a respected landowner, school board member and philanthropist. Sadly, however, Eleanor died in 1866.

In 1905, Dr. Bell made a generous donation to the University of Kansas — 101 lots of land and money to build a hospital and medical school in Rosedale. His only stipulation was that it be named in honor of his late wife. The Eleanor Taylor Bell Memorial Hospital was situated on a rocky bluff above Southwest and Rainbow boulevards in an area once known to locals as Goat Hill.

Interestingly, Bell was also responsible for the development of Southwest Boulevard, donating land and money to better connect Kansas City to Rosedale and other towns to the southwest. Bell died in 1913 and was interred alongside Eleanor in Silent City Cemetery in DeSoto.

Staff of the Eleanor Taylor Bell Memorial Hospital trained future medical professionals from 1907 through 1924, when the hospital and school moved to the present-day building. The new facility was renamed simply Bell Memorial Hospital to honor both Eleanor Taylor and Dr. Bell.

The old building on Goat Hill served a variety of functions over the years. It housed the medical school’s museum, hosted Boy Scout meetings, and was used to house tuberculosis and psychiatric patients. Later, from 1958 to 1970, it was occupied by 300 monkeys used for a viral research project funded by the National Institutes of Health. The building’s usefulness at an end, it was finally torn down in 1972. Today, the Rosedale Arch stands near its former site.

Have a question of your own? Email kcq@kcstar.com or visit kclibrary.org/kcq.